What evangelical Christians are to the Republican party, African Americans are to the Democrats. A new Gallup poll shows John Kerry beating George W. Bush 80 percent to 12 percent among blacks. The Hispanic vote is more heavily contested, as Kerry takes 56 percent while Bush takes 37 percent. Since the survey puts the Massachusetts senator ahead of the president by just a single percentage point, I'm guessing Bush has piled up a substantial lead among whites.

Im guessing after reading that the whites who were on the fence have now taken a large leap towards the Big Dubbya. Either that or leaped off the biggest bridge or high rise in their neighborhood.

Didn't it use to be 9 to 1?

Snowdaddy, you are essentially correct. Bush's 2004 polling numbers among black voters is an improvement on the numbers for the last election. For every 11 votes Gore received from an African American in 2000, Bush received less than one. In 1996, though, the numbers were 7 to one in Clinton's favor--the same ratio that the Gallup poll claims favors Kerry.